EMRA to hand over gold exploration concessions after Mineral Resources Act is amended

The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority is holding off on handing over the five concessions awarded in its 2017 gold exploration tender until after the amendments to the Mineral Resources Act are finalized and passed, an EMRA source tells Amwal Al Ghad. The winners of the tender were UK’s Veritas Mining Limited, Ghassan Spain Investment, Egypt’s East Gas Company, and Resolute Egypt, who will collectively invest USD 41.3 mn.

The government has sent the amendments to the act to the House of Representatives for review, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said last month. El Molla reiterated that the amendments — the details of which remain unclear — were made primarily to draw investments in the flagging mining sector, which has been hobbled by an outdated economic framework better suited to the oil and gas industry. Wood Mackenzie has been contracted by an affiliate of the Oil Ministry to lay out an appropriate development strategy for the sector. The firm identified four key challenges facing Egypt’s mining sector, and its suggestions have largely been incorporated in the proposed amendments to the Mineral Resources Act.